Baja Fresh

Dear Baja Fresh Corporate,
What were you thinking when you decided to close all of your locations in Illinois. About 4 years ago you closed the one located on Michigan Ave in Downtown Chicago… it was always packed when we went. Then we had to travel to Niles, IL to get our Baja on… and this location shut down. Well you put the nail in the coffin on me by closing the Deerfield, IL location. This place was always crowded. The food was good and fresh… about the only chain fast food Mexican I would ever eat. This was a huge mistake and am very sad. Maybe Wendy’s should sell you and let someone who understands Fresh Mexican Food run Baja Fresh. I think you only bought this chain to keep up with the Jonese (aka McDonalds and Chiplote). Get smart and set Baja Fresh free like McDonald’s did to Chiplote. Chiplote is terrible but they seem to be very successful.
Cheers,
Anthony
This is from Baja Corporate:
Thank you for taking the time to contact Baja Fresh. The Baja Fresh restaurants you are inquiring about are no longer members of our franchise community. At Baja Fresh we take guest satisfaction very seriously, and unfortunately there were a number of operational and financial issues that led us to terminate our relationship with our Illinois franchisee and close all Baja Fresh restaurants in the Illinois Market. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our loyal Baja Fresh Customers. There are no immediate plans to open another restaurant in this area; however Baja Fresh currently has 254 restaurants in 20 states and is continuously growing in its number of locations.
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Yeah but none in the Chicagoland area… thanks for nothing!

My heart dropped when I heard they closed!
I used to come here at least 3 times a month. All for the pico! the pico de gallo was amazing and all you can eat! I put it on everythingggg!
But yes baja fresh, you will be missed =[

My wife and I loved this place, but I found out yesterday this location is closed. Bummer.

This is my favorite fast food place but it makes me want to cry that I have to drive a bazillion miles to get to it. When I used to work closer to this place I would always stop in for fish tacos, rice and guacamole. Then I’d make a huge pig of myself at the salsa bar. Salsa bars are one of the world’s best inventions. Although I only get out here to eat two or three times a year now I miss it all the time.
Baja Fresh People… please listen. There is a closed WaMa that used to be a gross taco place a block away from me on Division/​Ashland. Would you guys please be super awesome and open a city location there? I would come there so much you would never, ever regret it. I would give you a million stars then.

Well it’s essentially Mexican fast food but I like it. The fish tacos are fantastic. And there’s a salsa bar which you gotta love in spite of the crappy chips that they serve. Stick with the fish and you’re good. For meat, head down the block to Chipolte.

It’s now over $ 9 for a Baja Burrito (chicken) and a small drink. Which totally misconstrues my whole argument.

I really liked this place when I first started eating here about a year ago. For a fast food place I thought the food was pretty decent. I have always gotten the steak fajitas, but they have changed considerably. They use skirt steak in them and have made the pieces much bigger than before. That would be fine if the meat was not so tough. It makes it impossible to take a bite without having a tug of war with your whole fajita. Not a pretty site for the person sitting across from you. So the food is just OK and you could certainly get a better deal for your money at a real Mexican restaurant, but that is not the reason I will never, ever go back here again. The employees have this terrible habit of sweeping the floor while people are eating. I have encountered this twice, but last night was the worst. It was 7pm and the place does not close until 8. We sit down to eat and here comes the broom. Right next to us, then next to another patron. The girl sweeping was clearly trying to kill time as she took forever for something that should have taken a few minutes. I find it thoroughly revolting to be eating and seeing a pile of garbage on the floor next to me. If this company can’t spend the money to keep their employees 15 minutes after closing to clean up, then I guess they should not be in business. The final clincher was when this same girl came out with a bucket and mop. She proceeds to mop the floor, but is interrupted by a customer at the counter waiting to order. She puts down her mop, goes to take the order, handles the money for the order and proceeds to get all of their food. Never once stopping to wash her hands. Actually the girl who took my order and got my food also never washed her hands. Yuk, that is why most restaurants have separate cashiers and food handlers. There is a little sink right there behind the counter. It has a big orange sign that says «NOTICE». The rest was too small to see, but I’ll assume it is a reminder for employees to wash there hands. Too bad for the company that they have hired, lazy, unfriendly employees. There are too many other places with good customer service. Don’t waste your time here.

I live in such a great part of the city –besides all the great city places, I’m still close enough to the burbs to enjoy some of the «chain» type places that you can only find in the good-​olé-​burbs. Baja Fresh is one such place. They have some really, really good shrimp tacos (Tres Tacos). They come with some hot and toasty chips on the side. They also have this cute little salsa bar and you can choose one of several different salsas. I haven’t tried a lot there. For whatever reason, I always get the same thing –but I really like it. I feel like it’s a healthier version of fast food –it’s shrimp, some lime juice and fresh veggies and onions as a topping. You can’t get too much healthier than that for a «fast food» place. It’s not «real» Mexican but sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. I love real Mexican but I also appreciate my Taco Bell and Baja every now and then too. It’s good… I like it.

1) Plentiful and fresh supporting ingredients
2) Minuscule and bland main ingredients
3) Salsa Bar
4) Lame version of breaded fish tacos and burritos
5) Lame version of grilled mahi mahi tacos and burritos
6) Typical Mexican and Tex-​Mex dishes done on the fast food level
7) Black or pinto beans with rice and a bag of chips
8) Clean
9) Good Service
10) Outdoor Patio
Rip-​Off

Obviously this is not authentic mexican food — it’s not meant to be (hint hint Andy M). It’s meant to cater to AMERICAN pallettes. I do LOVE authentic mexican but sometimes I want a milder version of it which is why I like Baja. I just had it for the first time the other night and it was a beautiful summer night out which the patio allowed me to enjoy. It’s a family kind of place with tasty salsa and HUGE portions of food… I mean the buritto musta been a pound and a half MINIMUM.
Anyhow — bit of a minimal menu but what they do have they do well. The salsa bar is nice and the mango salsa is delish on the seafood tacos. Everything is fresh and it shows…

Why would I go to a Mexican Chain restaurant when there are 1,000 good and authentic Mexican restaurants in Chicago. Reason One: I went there on suggestion from a person that will remain nameless. And reason Two: I’m a Fu#$@ing idiot. I should have known better.
I have refused to review Chipolte on Unilocal because I refuse to honor that Alpo serving, disaster with one star. Baja Fresh is a tiny step above Chipolte and Taco Bell. It is the White Castle of Mexican food.
We started out with a side order of Nachos. The Chips tasted like two year old Tostido’s that they bought at the dollar store. The Cheese topping was stale, tasteless and stringy.
The Steak Burrito that I ordered was bland. They put just enough meat in the Burrito that you would notice it. We are talking about a shot glass full of steak. It was a sorry-​ass excuse for a meal that was bland and skimpy.
The Bill for two people came to 24 dollars. It was totally overpriced for what they gave you. I could have made a better Mexican meal at home.
The Bottom line is: If you are looking to over pay for bland food, Baja Fresh is the place for you. I learned my lesson. I will never stray from all of the independently owned, authentic Mexican restaurants in Chicago. There is nothing at Baja Fresh that would ever tempt me to come back here. That is, unless I have a craving to pay $ 6 for a microscopic piece of bland steak.

We were making one of our runs to Babies R Us and were not in the mood to deal with one of the big chains on a Sunday so we decided to give Baja Fresh a try. Huge success! My husband and I loved the salsa bar. He’s a mild while I am a hot so it was nice to each have what we wanted and not having to compromise in the middle with medium! He had a Baja Burrito carnitas enchilados style and really enjoyed it. I had the carnitas fajitas and was so pleased. For $ 7.99 it was much better than «real» mexican restaurants. My meat was juicy, the veggies fresh and the sides were great. I love having the option of black beans rather than refried.
We really enjoyed the experience and will definitely go back again.

I’m not exactly sure how this place got such high reviews. I like the little salsa bar in the back. The mango salsa was probably my favorite. I felt like a creeper though leaving with an entire bag filled with little cups of salsa but hey I don’t think I’m going back anyways so whatever ha.
The service was fine, there was no one in there when we arrived. The manager at the time was actually putting chairs up on the tables, they were still open for a good couple hours though according to their door which I thought was lame… I ordered the nacho burrito because it SOUNDED really good. Didn’t taste very good though. The chicken torta my bf’s dad ordered and he said it was pretty alright, though if I go back I’ll have to try it I’m still not so intrigued that I want to go back, their prices aren’t that wonderful. Though they do give you a lot of food. I don’t like their rice either.
Haha I’ve had Mexican food in California, it was so not this stuff.

Baja Fresh is the perfect example of how a fast casual restaurant should work. As stated in the title everything is fresh. The salsas all use fresh ingredients and are very good. Everything is made to order and its a very kid friendly place. I like Bj better than Chipolte because they have a more extensive menu. It’s a perfect place for a quick, quality menu and a much better choice than any of the fast food chains. I also love how clean it is and that they wrap their high chairs in cellophane to keep them clean.

Like others have said, I enjoy Baja Fresh much more than Chipotle, which I won’t even get into how much I dislike them in comparison. Anyway, Justin’s 5 reasons why he liked them over Chipotle pretty much sum up why I like BF more.
And not to mention, I absolutely love how you also have the option to get small-​size soft tacos here, so take that, Chipotle! Not to mention obviously, the salsa bar is another great aspect about BF. Still though, if it’s true they changed how the fish tacos are made, that would make me quite sad.
I just hope that this chain can stay afloat, and won’t have to close any more locations, like what occurred to their former Evanston and Rosemont locations a few years back.

****UPDATED**** 8÷27÷07
What have they done to my Baja Fresh? The fish taco isn’t the same! The scrawny piece of fish looks like a cheap fish stick! I’m saddened. :(
My old review when I loved this Baja Fresh:
Try their fish tacos. They are insanely good. Something is in that sauce… it’s vinegary and tasty… wow, I love it. I love that they give you a whole basket of chips for free with a salsa bar that’s free too… so you can just nosh on those tasty chips while you wait.
They just introduced a churro too. And, unlike the sorta dried out half warm overly chewy ones you can often get about town, these were super duper fresh and insanely good. (I hate them for this a little bit)
Anyway, eat here. Yes, I love Chipotle but this is different. Chipotle I get a burrito or a bowl but here I can get a lot of different options with sides! I usually get tacos and man, their tacos are awesome. (I find the steak to actually be the least good of those, which is surprising)
I’m happy to have a boyfriend who craves this place as much as I do. :)

Baja Fresh is my favorite fast food chain! The Burritos are fantastic and way better than Chipotle! And, unlike Chipotle, they actually have a menu!

Why aren’t there more Baja Fesh locations in Chicagoland? This is definitely my ‘fast food’ of choice! Love the fish tacos, the tortilla soup and basically everything I’ve tried on the menu.
It does take a few minutes to get your stuff, but seriously it is fresh as hell.
Love the salsa bar too– I agree with John F’s opinion that the salsa bar sometimes needs attention and they could definitely use some REAL jalapenos dangit!

The preferred chain for Mexican fast food. Much better than Chipotle and let’s not even mention Taco Bell. Very fresh food with good quality ingredients. I love their fajitas and «burrito ultimo.» Only slight quibble I have is that the condiment bar could have fresh jalapeño’s raher than canned ones and they need to occasionally pay more attention to re-​stocking it and the beverage area. Outdoor dining is available here, too.

I always get the fish tacos. They are top notch. All the vegetable are fresh and everything tastes just right. They also offer burritos, quesadillas and other a few other «Mexican» dishes. All orders come with with free chips.
I would consider this place more California mexican food style rather than authentic Mexican or Tex-​Mex. I would give it 5 stars, but this location doesn’t offer as many salsas at their free salasa bar as their West Coast locations do.